After all her trials and tribulations with the internet, it took an unfortunate incident with her friend’s college age daughter to finally be able to talk to a responsible human being about the problems people in the USA, including Paula Gloria herself, as well as those in other countries, are facing on the internet when there is little understanding about internet jurisdiction and how to govern the power of technology for the benefit of the entire planet instead of facing endless war and cultural misunderstanding. Even after the tape ran out on the daily stream (MF 12 noon)and Paula placed a called to Jon Kowalski of Everycast who provides the stream for rabbitholecentral tv (a red five on line community effort) she discovered this computer savvy person’s own mother lost $5000 in a similar scam. While talking to Craig Butterworth Paula Gloria alludes to the death of Dan Wallace as a possible feature of the power of information exchanged on the internet that criminals would rather supress. If you have had a similiar problem you can contact: Craig Butterworth Communications Specialist National White Collar Crime Center 10900 Nuckols Road, Suite 325 Glen Allen, VA 23060 (804) 273-6932 ext. 355
CONTENTSSTARTING ON THE INTERNETE-BAYINTERNET INFORMATIONSCAMSPHISHINGLIGHTSIDEDROP SHIPSetting up your business on the Internet can be a lucrative way to attract customers, expand your market and increase sales. However, it is your duty to check and learn the rules and regulations, areas of privacy, security, copyright, and taxation that come with doing business on line. Webmasters who are now on the web work overtime, researching, and building trust, which enables them to sell on the Internet. They know success does not come overnight. They have to work hard, be persistent, teachable, research. They have to make the effort and a little bit of cash helps. If you intend on making a living on the Internet start out part time. The failing rate on the Internet is over 94 percent, mostly because they buy into the MLM Marketer that promises all you have to do is join as a paid member. E-BAYYou should also consider selling via eBay. Thousands of persons are making a good living today selling on eBay. They give you a lot of support with free information, tools and resources. Really a great way to start on the Internet part-time, as you have control on the hours you want to spend to make it work. What I like about eBay is you can start by selling articles, products you have around your home, which you no longer have use for. The products you sell do not have to be new, but should be in good conditionProtect yourself from spoof (fake) emails and Web sites. Take the Spoof Tutorial to learn about eBay Toolbar with Account Guard, which warns you when you are on a known spoof site. For more safe buying tips, please visit the e-bay Safety CentreINTERNET INFORMATIONPUBLIC DOMAINMany persons make a living by selling books, information that are in the Public Domain. There are many books, movies, newspapers that are in Public Domain. These are no longer cover by copyright and can be used by anyone, fully, or changed to suit the new author. For example every issue of any magazine, who’s copyright was not renewed in the U. S. A. between the years of 1923 and 1964 becomes Public Domain. Records show only about 1,500 ever renewed their copyrights. Every issue of any magazine whose copyright was not renewed in the 28th year of first publication is now Public Domain. It may be noted that in the U. S. A. I believe all newsletters, information flyers, plus other material produced by the Government can be copied. In Canada Government works are copyright by the Government and can’t be copied. SCAMSThe Internet is growing in sophistication, from two dozen nations taking an “aggressive interest” in stealing our secrets to new virtual gangs pooling their talents to launch coordinated attacks and crimes. There are partnerships that are emerging—often globally—to turn back the rising tide of cyber crime. One of our partners is the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which has declared October its fifth annual National Cyber Security Awareness Month to help “educate the public on the shared responsibility of protecting cyberspace. ”You can make a difference—and help protect your own systems at home and at the office—by taking these basic steps: Change your security passwords regularly, have a firewall in place on your computer, get the latest anti-virus software, and install current security patches for your computer’s operating system. Also, take time to visit the FBI page to learn more about how our cyber action teams, computer crimes task forces, Innocent Images program, and Internet Crime Complaint Center are playing vital roles in protecting cyberspace. Can you avoid getting caught by a scam artist working the web? Not always. But prudence pays. The FTC offers these tips to help you avoid getting caught by an offer that just may not click:Read the fine print and all relevant links. Fraudulent promoters sometimes bury the disclosures they’re not anxious to share by putting them in teeny-tiny type or in a place where you’re unlikely see them. Look for a privacy policy. If you don’t see one – or if you can’t understand it – consider taking your business elsewhereBe sceptical of any company that doesn’t clearly state its name, street address and telephone number. Check it out with the local Better Business Bureau, consumer protection office or state Attorney General. The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices. The FTC enters consumer complaints into the Consumer Sentinel Network, a secure online database and investigative tool used by hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U. S. and abroad. PayPal works hard to prevent identity theft from happening on their site. PayPal offers educational tools geared to teaching users about security theft, including free Equifax credit alerts and a new PayPal Security code key. You can also go to my website where you will find over 3 years of Internet information in my archives. PHISHINGPhishing still catches millions of persons who give out their personal information, believing the e-mail they received was from a bank, PayPal, taxation branch, or some other Government Department. Further, instead of typing in the URL supplied by the phisher they just clink on it. Just because the URL has the proper heading doesn’t mean it is going to a legit URL. In phishing they have it redirected if you click on the URL and they get your personal information. Further, consumers should not release personal information in response to unsolicited telephone calls. Providing your PII will compromise your identity!LIGHTSIDEThrow In The TowelThe middle-aged boxer entered the ring for his daily practice. Both of his ears were bandaged. His coach asked him what happened. He explained, “I was ironing my shirt when the phone rang and I accidentally answered the phone with the iron!”“That explains the one ear, what happened to the other?” Asked the coach. The boxer replied, “They phoned back”. DROP SHIPPERSYou can get products to sell via eBay or/and your website by using the services of a drop shipper. A reliable drop shipper will not askyou for a fee. They will allow you to copy pictures of the productsthey sell. Prices are about half you would pay for retail. If you have a website they will allow you to move any listing on their site to yours. You set your price on the product/s you transfer. When an order comes in place the order, they will ship it out for you under your shipping label and not include any of their material. A good way to promote is join as an affiliate,(with a drop shipper), transfer a couple specials onto your site, with a link back to your affiliate page. The cost of setting up a web site is minimum. Subscribe to a few free Internet Newsletters, and join some free forums. You will find these listed in Google or Yahoo search. Forums are a great way to contribute ideas and post. Include your signature file at bottom. Great way to makes sales too. Disclaimer: The Author of this article is not responsible for accuracy or completeness nor shall he be held liable for any damage or loss arising out of or in any way related to the information or utilization of it. Be responsible! Always do your own Due Diligence before responding to any offer.
Should we be worried about the protection of our privacy on the internet. Are there really thousands of people trying to spy on us, watching our every move. Well perhaps this article will give you a little knowledge of some of the most important issues involved in Internet privacy protection. So who are all these spies and why are they spying? Remember internet crime is extremely big, we don’t have any exact totals but be assured they are truly astronomical figures in billions of dollars worldwide. Many cyber based crimes are not reported, listed or recorded and sometimes not even noticed. We can only deal in estimates and approximation All over the internet major crime syndicates are moving or expanding into cyber crime. In places like Brazil, China and Eastern Europe, sophisticated criminal networks have an enormous amount of infratructure in place to support their cyber crime. Engaging in crime on the internet has a couple of huge advantages, very big rewards and very low risk. Computer hackers or identity thieves will often target the average internet surfer. The professional and sophisticated gangs will also be very careful about HOW they steal from you. Once they have your information, your details then there are literally hundreds of ways to use this. The mad spending spree on a debit card or bank account is easily detectable but how about credit applied for in your name, how about the inoffensive looking direct debit for $30 which is removed every month. Some of these criminals have gone to incredible lengths to steal your data and information. I have seen a copy of Windows XP from Eastern Europe that looked 100% legitimate, shrink wrapped, certificate of authenticity all included, the only problem was this version of XP was preloaded with trojans, viruses and keyloggers ready to start stealing your details from the first install. As soon as you connected to the internet your passwords and accounts would be mailed to a server on the internet. . . ouch. So just as you would lock your doors at home, many are beginning to do the same online. I personally want internet privacy protection because I use the internet to pay bills, do my banking, and lots of other activities which involve both my financial and personal details. Do I really want all these details logged on the internet, and at my ISP for example, well no not really. You see it’s not exactly hard to steal these personal details online. Yes a gang of cyber criminals based in Rio de Janerio can steal from you, even though you’ve never been to Brazil. When you discover your bank account emptied, what can you do? In reality very little but attempt to get yoru money refunded from your bank or credit card company, either way the criminal himself is very unlikely to pay for his crimes.
When the Super Highway became commercialized, its use was intended for the free and legitimate exchange of information and instantaneous communication. It was a fairly innocent medium, awkward to some, but still innocent and safe. However, nowadays, staying safe online has become a never-ending battle â for children as well as adults. Because cybercriminals are becoming smarter and more sophisticated in their operations, they are real threats to our personal security and our privacy. Our money, our computer, our family, and our business are all at risk.
For example, researchers have found that most web browsers handle pop-up windows in a manner that makes them vulnerable to a simple phishing technique that allows fake content to look genuine. Even fully patched, standard versions of globally used browsers including Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Konqueror, and Safariâused by trusted sites such as banksâallow malicious sites to insert their own content into any pop-up window, as long as the target name of the window is known.
Over the past year, experts warned of new attacks that not only circumvent DomainKeys but, adding insult to injury, even exploit the fledgling e-mail signing technology for their nefarious ends.
As eWEEK’s Dennis Fisher reported, the technology once regarded by many in the security community as one of the best hopes for preventing e-mail address forgery is now being used to make bogus messages appear legitimate, thus undercutting confidence in the system. “It proves that people will get to the point where they can’t trust e-mail from anywhere,” one security expert, who requested anonymity, told Mr. Fisher.
But things seemed darker yet before a ring of cybercriminals was recently broken up by Russian authorities. These cybercriminals used keylogging software that they had planted in email messages and had hidden in websites to draw over $1. 1 million from personal bank accounts in France.
Their goal was to infect the inner workings of computers in much the same way that mischief-making virus writers do. The twist here is that the keylogging programs exploit security flaws and monitor the path that carries data from the keyboard to other parts of the computer. This is a more invasive approach than phishing, which relies on deception rather than infection, tricking people into giving their information to a fake website.
The keylogging programs are often hidden inside ordinary software downloads, email attachments, or files shared over peer-to-peer networks. Because they can be embedded in webpages, they take advantage of browser features that allow programs to run automatically.
The hidden keylogging programs infect the computers of unsuspecting users. This puts the keylogging programs in the category of malicious programs known as Trojan horses, or just Trojans. These Trojans are very selective because they monitor the web access the victims make, and start recording information only when the user enters the sites of interest to the fraudster. The growing threat of spyware. Beyond the phishing epidemic, spyware was on track to replace mass-mailing worms as the biggest security threat in the coming year. This technology, which uses covert techniques to install itself on computers and track user activity, is dangerous because malicious code can be executed on infected systems.
As eWEEK. com’s Ryan Naraine reported, spyware, also known as adware, has become the preferred way to deliver malicious Trojans, which can relay information to other computers or Web locations, thus putting user passwords, log-in details, credit card numbers and other personal information at risk.
Notwithstanding financial chief security officers’ complaints, the Feds spent a good deal of the past year studying cyber-crime, pondering and passing legislation to thwart it, and even handing down the first-ever felony conviction of a spammer. The spammer, Jeremy Jaynes, received a sentence of nine years in prison when a jury in AOL’s home county convicted him and his sister. What Lies Ahead: In the coming years, internet users will not only have to be more vigilant, but will also have to demand more from vendors vis-Ã -vis secure products, as well as will have to go through legislative wording with a fine-toothed comb.
To protect ourselves, our approach to internet use will have to change to stay ahead of the cybercriminals. But we cannot do it alone, as exemplified by Mr. Greg Garcia, the Assistant Secretary for cyber-security and telecommunications at the U. S. Department of Homeland Security, when he said that he and his team are already hard at work creating policies that aim to better protect critical infrastructure.
Although the United States government is better suited than ever to defend the nation’s computing and communications networks, federal watchdogs will need private industry to lend a hand to keep attackers at bay, according to the first-ever federal cyber-security czar.
The cyber-security chief went on to say that his initial priorities revolve around work to breed cooperation between federal agencies to develop common security policies for defending networks and to help the private sector strengthen national preparedness and incident-response plans. Garcia said his most important role will be to serve as a focal point in the U. S. government to drive national security policies across both the public and private sectors.
On a personal level, there is more that we as individuals will have to do in order to keep the internet and the personal computers in their homes and businesses safe. We need to change our thinking and actions when it comes to computer security, especially when going online. But we cannot do it alone; we need an internet security team of experts making sure that we, our family, and your computers at home and place of business remain safe and secure.
The best protection we can have in today’s rapidly changing world of cyber-attacks is to have expert support for all our internet security needs that will provide technical support without any hassles and without charging you extra fees. It will become even more critical than it is today as time goes on. We will need to find our own personal team of experts to rely on. If we ever have a security problem, we will want to have a trusted expert we can call for professional help, without any hassles and extra costs!
Because cybercriminals are becoming smarter and more sophisticated in their operations, they are real threats to your personal security and privacy. Our money, your computer, your family, and your business are all at risk. These cybercriminals leave you with three choices:
1. Do nothing and hope their attacks, risks, and threats donât occur on your computer.
2. Do research and get training to protect yourself, your family, and your business.
3. Get professional help to lockdown your system from all their attacks, risks, and threats. Remember: When you say “No!” to hackers and spyware, everyone wins! When you don’t, we all lose!
© MMVII, Etienne A. Gibbs, MSW, The Internet Safety Advocate and Educator
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